Question: Subtract. $5 - 2.7 =$
There are many ways to solve this problem. Let's see two ways we can solve it. Place Value We can think in terms of tenths: $\begin{aligned} &\phantom{=}5- 2.7\\\\ &=5.0- 2.7\\\\ &=50\text{ tenths} -27\text{ tenths}\\\\ &=23\text{ tenths}\\\\ &=2.3 \end{aligned}$ Place value table Let's line up the numbers by their decimal places. Ones $.$ Tenths ${5}$ $.$ $0$ ${2}$ $.$ $7$ Now, let's subtract each place value column. Ones $.$ Tenths $\overset{4}{\cancel{{5}}}$ $.$ $\overset{10}{\cancel{0}}$ $-$ $2$ $.$ $7$ $\underline{~~~~}$ $\underline{~~~~}$ $2$ $.$ $3$ The answer $5 - 2.7 =2.3$